[chit chat]on the other side of the lens

For some time, at the end of my sessions, I ask the person or persons I am photographing to jump. Yes, jump.

Sometimes I get a strange look and then 99% of the time, they go for it. It’s hilarious. Everyone laughs and it creates a whole new energy. And in some cases, I keep shooting after and those are the best images of the day.

And I have found that the jump is often reflective of one’s personality. I’ve had a diver look like she is about to jump into cold water, a ballerina look graceful, a former model fly in 4 inch heels perfectly, and a guy doing a guitar jam in mid-air.

Take a minute and think about the last time you jumped in the air…now go ahead and try it when no one is looking, or if you’re daring, in the middle of a crowded room. Trust me, you’ll be smiling after you land.

Last week’s vacation is almost distant memory! Yesterday was filled with sessions and today is production day. Lots of files to work with and things to send to the lab.

I am total sucker for cute, adorable, baby faces and had to post this. As you know, I don’t do much posing and let kids be themselves. So when this little guy struck a pose, it was too funny and I had to click the shutter for the fleeting moment.

It’s the night before my annual “end of summer” vacation and I have been trying to figure out what to write for the past hour. But sometimes, words just don’t come quickly. Especially after trying to get a million things done at the house and the studio. All those little ducks need to get put in their rows!

So, what images to post today? The building project. We are 95% complete and I am ready to take a break from trying to figure out which tile or hardware or color or wood to use. So as we sit at the beach next week…the trim is getting put on, the cabinets tweaked, and the drawer pulls attached (all 37 of them). It’s been chaotic at time, but worth every speck of dust.

The one thing that I have loved about the project is the shapes that the tools and objects make. I’d be walking by and notice something, then run to get the camera. My kids and dogs would be watching me from the sunroom, wondering why I found a rusty tool so cool. Or the broken up tiles. Or the electrical wires. But all I could see is form, lines, shadow, and simplicity.

I’ll be back in the office on August 30…enjoy the last week of summer!

This morning I ventured down the street with my own children and attempted an official shoot. I am still processing the morning and trying to weigh my expectations with reality. In truth, I got some great images of the girls. And if that’s how I were to measure the morning, it would be considered successful.

But the other word to describe the morning…stressful. The hardwood floors refinishers arrived early this morning and the loud machines got on my nerves as I packed for our two night hotel stay. Estella was great in the beginning, but fell on her bottom half way through and was really, really grumpy after that. Adi wanted to eat wood chips, refused to stand, and kept coming towards me for the camera.

I suppose I could have picked a better day to do the session. But then again, I don’t think there is a ever a perfect day or perfect moment to take pictures. And that’s exactly why we need to keep taking them. Whether it’s a formal session or a quick ones on the way to the grocery store. The magic of photography is capturing the small moments in a great big life. If we keep waiting for the “perfect” day, we’d never pick up the camera.

Sometimes there are just images that make you smile and this is one of them…she was being a goof ball and “posing” for me.

Currently, my house is in complete chaos – we started a kitchen/living room remodel two weeks ago. With that, we managed to reduce our living space by at least 50%. It’s been ok, but I can’t wait for it to be done! Here’s the quick plan: gut the kitchen, knock out a wall, replace the fireplace, replace tile in foyer, and replace all carpet with hardwood. We are in the quiet, mudding and taping phase at the moment. When it’s all done, I’ll proudly post the before and after…

On to the studio…it’s been a good couple weeks of quiet catch-up. The senior season is full swing and my calendar is starting to fill up. Just a quick reminder that the Middleton deadline is early September.

And lastly, Doggy Daze calendars will be ready for pick-up/delivery starting on Monday. And they look fantastic!!

This is a fast and short post – the Doggy Daze calendar is in the final design phase and about to go to the printer. Whoohoo!

Here’s a quick preview…beginning today, you can pre-order the calendar. It will be available for shipping or studio pick-up in early July.

I was on the phone today with a mom of a high school senior and we were laughing about the fact that her daughter and her favored completely different images. I hear it all the time – but if you go to a museum and stood by a painting for an hour, you’d hear a diversity of opinions too. Some that don’t get it, some that connect with it, some that like it a little.

The reality is that photography, like any art form, is subjective. Each person brings their unique lifelong experiences to their consciousness when viewing an image. And just the same, the photographer consciously, or subconsciously, bring their own experiences to the image when they click the shutter. It’s really quite remarkable when you think about.

When I look at this image, there are so many things that it represents to me. Youth, energy, and movement. Then I look closer and I see the shadow on the boardwalk and the tree branch in the background that mimics the boy’s shape. And then my eye starts going to the patterns and lines…

This morning, I did a session with a little girl that I have been photographing since her first birthday. I just love this time of year – the lush landscape makes fabulous backgrounds and entertainment for the little ones. We headed to Olbrich Gardens and looked for frogs, lilly pads, rocks – we were successful and one person even saw a beaver!

While I don’t usually look at images on the same day of the session, I took a quick peek and thought this was adorable and carefree…

I am home now and trying to remember the events of the third day. It’s quite honestly a blur. Workshops are so intense: the relationships, the discussions, the image making. What I do remember is a fantastic discussion with my group in the morning, a lunch at the local burger joint, an enlightening conversation with Carlan, and meeting some great people sitting on the boat in the bayou. After all that, we took a two trip into the darkness of the bayous and looked for alligators. What a day.